


Hometown

by Vanityandrobron12



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 06:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21333814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanityandrobron12/pseuds/Vanityandrobron12
Summary: Charity visits her father, with her kids and grandkids
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield, tracy shankley/ Debbie dingle
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Jamie is charity’s brother in this

Charity is driving through the old roads where she once lived, she was playing the song ‘fast car’ and was humming to the beat  
Debbie was following behind her with Tracy and the kids in the car, Ryan was with Debbie  
Charity had heard from her stepmother, Kim, that her father was dying  
She wanted her father to meet her kids before he died  
Charity was still ashamed of her dad, but she still loved him.  
Johnny is babbling to Noah  
Vanessa speaks to charity  
“Are you sure you want to see your dad”  
Charity speaks  
“Yeah, it also gives Johnny the chance to finally meet his other granddad”  
Johnny heard that and spoke to charity  
“Mummy chatty, are we seeing your daddy”  
Charity speaks to Johnny  
“Yes mate”  
Charity pulls up outside the house, Debbie pulls up behind her  
Vanessa speaks  
“You sure this is the place”  
Charity speaks  
“Yep, Vanessa, this is my childhood home”  
Debbie gets out of her car, with the kids  
Charity knocks on the door, her stepmother answers  
“Hey Charity How are you”  
Charity speaks  
“I’m good Yeah”  
Kim Let’s them in

Inside the cottage

Charity is waiting to introduce the kids  
Kim speaks  
“So who are this lot then”  
Charity speaks  
“Kim you remember debbie and Ryan don’t you, Well that’s Noah, and that’s Johnny, Debbie’s kids are vinny, Sarah, jack, Moses, Oliver and holly, this is my wife Vanessa, and that’s Debbie’s wife Tracy, Where’s dad”  
Kim speaks  
“He’s on the farm”  
Charity speaks  
“He’s still got that farm”  
Kim speaks  
“Yeah, it’s best you go and see him, he didn’t know you were coming back, and say hi to Jamie too, he’s missed you”  
Charity speaks  
“Will do”  
Charity heads towards the little farm  
“Hi dad”  
Obadiah speaks  
“Hi charity”

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity settles in with her father

The man on the farm, her father, hadn’t changed one bit. Well, his hair had greyed considerably more if that was even possible, and more wrinkles pinched his face but the stern line of his mouth and the scruffy shirt was ever the same.  
Obadiah speaks  
“Charity”  
Charity speaks  
“You look well”  
She wanted to show his dad that he had grown. That she wasn’t that same little kid anymore. Obadiah speaks  
“What are you doing here?”  
a hint of something in his voice. Surprise? Anger? Actual human emotion?  
Charity shrugged,  
“can’t a daughter come see her father on his deathbed?”  
Obadiah speaks  
“I’m not on my deathbed yet Charity”.   
Jamie races out and hugs his big sister  
Charity hugs him right back, she’s missed him loads  
Jamie speaks  
“What are you doing here? Is this just a flying visit? Is that your car?”  
the last sentence was filled with awe and charity stood straighter with pride.  
She’d worked damn hard for that car and she’d work even harder for the rest of her life to keep the people inside of that car happy and safe.  
Charity speaks

“I’m here for a while actually, I’m here to help”  
She looked at her dad as she said this  
“I even brought the whole family along”.   
Jamie gasped and his eyes darted to charity’s left hand and the shiny ring that she wore around her finger.  
Jamie speaks  
“You’re married!”  
Charity speaks  
“With 4 kids”  
she added smiling softly.   
Again a rare mix of emotions passed over Obadiah’s face again as he looked over at the car. Charity speaks  
“Want to meet them?”  
Jamie speaks   
“Of course we do!”   
Charity went down to the driveway with Jamie  
and surprisingly, Obadiah following.  
As they arrived Vanessa climbed out the car.   
Jamie instantly recognised Ryan and Debbie  
Charity speaks  
“Dad, Jamie, this is Vanessa. My wife”.   
Jamie didn’t miss a beat as he went over immediately saying how it was a pleasure to meet her and pulling her into a hug, Charity kept her eyes on her father.  
She wondered what his reaction would be  
The last time charity had brought a girl home she’d been beaten black and blue.   
Obadiah matched charity’s stare before turning to Vanessa and giving her a nod.  
The meeting hadn’t been perfect but it wasn’t as big a catastrophe as she’d expected.  
Then a little voice was heard from charity’s car  
“Mummy”  
Kim speaks  
“Is that-”  
Charity pulled open the door to the car and Vanessa did the same on the other side.  
Debbie opened her car door, Tracy opened the other side.  
While Charity got Johnny, Vanessa helped Debbie unbuckle a squirming Moses and then lifted a grumpy Oliver into her arms. Charity saw Noah climb out the other side.   
Jamie speaks  
“Aw they’re perfect”.   
They were. All of them.   
Noah was a spitting image of herself.  
Although nobody knew where he’d gotten his black hair from, even at just fourteen years old he had the look of trouble in his green eyes.   
Neither Debbie or Tracy knew which one of them was the biological mother to holly or Oliver because biology had never mattered with their family and it hadn’t mattered when it came to the surrogacy either, however just one look at Oliver and it was obvious whose genetics he’d inherited.  
He was the spitting image of Debbie with a head of dark curly hair and blue eyes.   
Holly didn't take after Debbie as much as she took after Sarah, something the teenager was thrilled about although Debbie liked to tease that when she needed her nappy changed, which was almost constantly, the little frown she did was the exact same as Tracy’s when she didn’t get her own way  
Jamie speaks  
“What are their names?”  
Charity speaks  
“This is Johnny, that’s noah”  
Debbie speaks  
“This is Oliver, and this is holly, her brother jack, her sister Sarah, her other brother vinny, and her brother Moses”  
Oliver speaks  
“I got car”  
He showed it off to Jamie  
Jamie speaks  
“My word, he looks so much like you debbie”  
“Poor thing” Sarah called out drawing everyone’s attention to her.   
Kim speaks to charity  
“Is she-?”  
Charity could practically see the cogs working in her head to determineSarah’s round about age which she couldn't blame her for.  
She wouldn't be the first person to see Sarah’s brown hair and smart mouth and come away thinking she was charity’s.  
Charity speaks  
“She’s not mine, she’s Debbie’s”  
Sarah showed up at Debbie’s, shoulder taking Oliver off of her.  
Kim speaks   
“Shall we go in for a cup of tea?”  
She seemed so overwhelmed by all the tiny humans.   
Charity looked up at her father again, trying to get his reaction.  
She could swear her fathers stare had softened as he watched Oliver attempting to eat his bare foot from where he sat quite happily in Sarah’s arms.   
Charity might even say his usual scowl was replaced with the barest of smiles but that would be too much for Obadiah  
Charity speaks  
“Yeah, let's go in for a cup of tea”.   
Johnny speaks  
“And biscuit?”  
Johnny might look like Vanessa but he had Charity’s eating habits.   
Charity ran a hand through her son's hair, then spoke  
“Yes, and a biscuit, I’m sure if you asked uncle Jamie nicely, he might get you a chocolate one”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	3. Chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity talked to her dad

Debbie had become a master at juggling multiple babies at once in the past year. The transition from one baby to two had been hard but together her and Tracy had managed and come out the other side of it all as baby experts.   
Debbie’s powers were put to the test now as she balanced Oliver and Holly on each leg and bounced them up and down trying to distract them from a tantrum and keep the grabby hands away form the table full of hot tea.   
Kim speaks to Vanessa  
"So where abouts are you from Vanessa?"  
She was sat next to Obadiah.   
Sarah and Noah, more interested in their phone then the conversation, were in the middle of Debbie and charity, who had Johnny perched on her knee.   
The little boy was now fully engrossed in a chocolate biscuit.   
He smeared it over his face, and occasionally offered it to Debbie, who'd open her mouth wide for a bite before johnny pulled it away, giggling like crazy.   
Vanessa speaks  
"Well, most of mine and Tracy’s family are up in Ireland, but me, Tracy and my dad moved down to Yorkshire while I was old enough to get rid of the accent"  
Kim speaks  
"And how did you and Charity meet?"   
Charity and Vanessa shared a private smile across the table before they both said, "work".   
Charity began telling them about their pub-romance, one pub manager falling head over heals for the vet.  
Obadiah pipes up  
"Last I heard you were engaged"   
Charity scoffed,  
"Yeah I was but that was years before Vanessa"  
Kim asked   
"Is that when you realised you were, well that you liked women”  
Charity shook her head and looked away from her father.   
"No. I've always known I was bi. Bisexual I mean, even if I didn't know the word for it back then"   
she could feel her fathers eyes boring into her, she continued talking  
"just took me some time to finally accept it".   
She looked at her dad.  
"and I've never been happier".   
***  
"Thought I'd find you out here" Charity called out.  
Obadiah had left about half an hour ago mumbling something incoherent as he did.  
Charity found him now leaning against a pen and throwing food to the pigs.   
Obadiah speaks  
"Can't all hang around drinking tea, I've got a farm to run”  
Charity didn't miss the way her dad turned his head away from her.   
Something twisted in her stomach.   
Charity speaks  
"Look at ya, can't even look at me".   
Obadiah speaks  
"what are you doing here Charity?"  
Charity speaks  
"What am I-? You're dying dad!"  
Obadiah speaks   
"Came to make sure it really happened then?"  
Charity speaks  
"No, dad, I came back to see ya! It's been fifteen years for Gods sake!" Her voice rose.   
Remembering who was inside, she lowered his voice to a normal level when she spoke next.  
"You know it's my own fault really, thinking fifteen years was enough time for you to get over your prejudices. And even if you hadn't I thought maybe you’d want to get to know your grandkids, but no. I’m always just going to be a disappointment to you aren’t I?”  
Obadiah speaks  
“Charity, don't do this-"  
Charity growled out  
"Aren't I?"  
Obadiah turned to face her, the bucket of pig food falling to the ground.  
Obadiah speaks  
"What do you want me to say Charity? That every time I look at you all I see if my own failure!"  
Something heavy set in Charity’s heart.   
"I came here to be the bigger person, for my kids to spend some time with ya before you keel over and die and to help Kim and Jamie keep this stupid fucking farm going afterwards but you know what? Screw it, and screw you".   
She kicked at the fallen bucket before turning back towards the cottage   
"Charity" Obadiah called out, "Charity stop!"  
Charity stopped. She didn't turn but she stopped and she didn't know why. She had waited a long time for this conversation.   
Obadiah speaks  
"You aren't my biggest disappointment charity, Our relationship is".   
Every muscle in her body tensed. She wanted to leave. But she couldn't.   
Obadiah continued  
“People say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re dying, but that isn’t the case for me. Ever since the doctors said this was all the time I had left, I couldn't stop thinking of my regrets. You’re my biggest regret Charity. I regret not coming after you when you left. I regret not picking up the phone once in fifteen years. I regret not being there for you”.   
Was this actually happening right now?  
Finally Charity turned  
"you made my life Hell, growing up" she whispered, "I hated myself. You made me hate myself. Made me think there was something wrong with me. And I didn't realise how fucked up that was until Johnny was born. I held my little boy and everything changed. I had so much love for this tiny human and nothing he could ever do would change that".   
Charity swallowed down her emotions before they exploded. She stood a little straighter and stared at her father  
She spoke to her father  
."I can't forgive you for that".  
Obadiah speaks   
"And I'm not expecting you too"   
His voice was thick with emotion. This was the first time Charity had ever seen her father like this. So human.  
Obadiah continued  
"I just want a chance to make some wrongs rights before it's too late".  
A war played on his mind. She wanted this for so long. Half her life. She never thought she’d get it.   
"I can't forgive you" Charity repeated, "but- but maybe we can start fresh. Leave the past in the past. A clean slate for the kids sake, for Kim and Jamie".   
Obadiah speaks  
"So you're staying".   
Charity stared out at the farm she despised for so long.  
Charity speaks  
”Yeah I’m staying”.   
It was an awkward moment when Obadiah closed the space between them and pulled his eldest child into his arms.   
It was still awkward when Charity leaned into it.   
It was awkward but she was home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all settle in

Lazy mornings were a thing of the past, nowadays what with two kids and five grandkids running around the place demanding food and needing nappies changed and so Charity enjoyed the five minutes she got to spend wrapped up in Vanessa’s arms upon first waking up before going to check on the kids.  
Debbie speaks  
"Morning" her voice rough with sleep and eyes still closed.   
Charity smiled at debbie softly then she spoke  
"morning debs”.   
They'd been at the farm a few days now and were finally starting to settle in to the cottage.   
Every time they tripped over a toy Oliver had left lying around, every time the babies drooled or pooped over some surface of the house, every time Sarah and Noah slammed the doors closed too loud the place began to feel more and more like home.   
The cottage they'd managed to rent out was cosy but plenty big enough for all of them.   
Jack and Sarah and Noah got their own room, Johnny and Moses we’re sharing, and the babies were in the room next to their mums at the other side as to not wake them.  
and although living here wouldn't be a permanent thing Charity planned on taking full advantage of the back garden.   
Vanessa speaks  
"You ready for today?"  
Today. The day Charity began working back up at the farm. Just like the house working back at the farm was only a temporary thing, a couple of shifts here and there throughout the week.   
She’d come back to help her family and this was part of that.   
But still the thought of being back there in ugly overalls riding around on the tractors and mucking around in the mud twisted something unpleasant inside of her.  
She had ran away and left that all behind with the plan of never returning ever again and yet here she was.   
Johnny was the light at the end of the tunnel however.  
He was been thrilled when he found out his mummy was going to be working with animals and tractors and he had nagged at them to let him until Charity had agreed he could come by later in the day to see some of the animals.   
Seeing him so happy almost made it worth it.   
Charity speaks  
"I'm-"   
She'd considered to reassure Vanessa that she was fine but Charity knew her wife would immediately call her out on her bullshit and it would no doubt end him a soft kick or jab to the ribs.   
Charity speaks  
"I'm nervous, I know we agreed on fresh starts and I really do want to try but- it feels more complicated then that".   
Vanessa speaks  
"You have every right to be nervous he was an arsehole to you growing up".   
Charity speaks  
"If I have to play nice then so do you"   
Vanessa pulled a face and Charity sighed looking up at the ceiling.   
Charity speaks  
"Do you think I did the right thing?, bringing us here".   
Technically it had been a group decision.   
Her, Vanessa, Debbie, Tracy, Sarah and Noah had all discussed it thoroughly before a concrete decision was made but it had been her to suggest the subject.   
Vanessa speaks  
"I think you're doing what you feels best for you, you're getting closure, trying not to live with any regrets which is all you can do".   
Charity smiled over at Vanessa, so wise even if the last part of her sentence was taken up by a yawn.  
Charity speaks  
"I love you, ya know that".   
Vanessa speaks  
"I know".   
Charity speaks  
"You sure you're ok with all the kids all day?, I know you've got work to finish too".  
Vanessa scoffed,"course I'll be ok, I'm super mum and auntie remember".   
Charity speaks  
"Yeah you are, I just don't want to lumber everything-"  
Vanessa speaks  
"You aren't lumbering anything on anyone, this is important to you which means it's important to me, now come here I want a kiss".   
Charity was more then happy to oblige.   
She kissed Vanessa once, twice, ten times before slowly moving her head to Vanessa’s neck with every intention of covering whatever exposed skin she could find in kisses but the door burst open and ruined her plans.   
Both jolted apart and sat up to see Noah in the doorway, Oliver on his hip and Johnny and Moses toddling along after him.  
Johnny and Moses climbed onto the bed and dived on them with infectious giggles while Noah placed Oliver on the edge of the bed.   
Oliver and holly were so close to crawling but not quite there just yet and so Charity and Vanessa each scooped up a baby and brought them closer.   
"Morning losers!" Noah and Sarah called out before turning and leaving.   
"Morning you two" they called back.   
Yep, lazy mornings were definitely a thing of the past but Charity wouldn't change it for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	5. Chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity begins work on the farm

Charity parked her car outside the house but didn't get out right away.   
She needed to collect himself first before going inside.   
Needed to calm her nerves.   
There was no room for fear or weakness inside that house.   
She knew her brother would no doubt be there already, the early bird and over achiever that he was, and he would smell charity’s discomfort a mile off.   
Finally, five minutes later Charity headed inside.   
She had one foot in the door before she was assaulted both by the scent of cooking bacon and also her little brother who came out of nowhere and wrapped her in a hug.   
Out of all of her family she had missed her little brother the most.   
He was the only one who tried to keep in touch with her over the years.   
The only one of her family to know about Vanessa although charity hadn't told him about the kids in fear of it getting back to her family.   
Jamie speaks  
"Do you have any photos from years ago then?”  
Charity speaks  
"Can we actually get inside the house first?"   
She asked gesturing to the fact that he was still in the walkway.   
Charity followed Jamie into the kitchen were the smell of sizzling bacon grew stronger and an unwelcome sight sat at the head of the table. Her other brother.  
"You're still alive then?" Carl asked upon seeing her.  
"Carl”  
Jamie and Kim scolded at the same time, something that had definitely never happened before.   
"It's good to see you again Carl"  
Charity said in a polite, almost professional way.  
As the awkwardness in the room grew she hoped to god her kids never ended up like this, having to put on a face in front of their siblings.   
"Come on Charity hon, sit down, I've made you a bacon sarnie" Kim said placing a plate down on the table and pulling out the nearest chair for her.   
Charity tried to decline.   
"Really Kim, I had Cheerios with Johnny and Moses this morning, they are going through a phase were they won't eat unless me or Debbie are eating with them.”  
Kim speaks  
"You need all the energy you can get before you're out on the farm"   
She gave in and made a grab for the ketchup.  
Carl speaks  
"Vanessa, that's your girlfriend innit?"  
Charity squeezed the tomato sauce hard, "wife actually".   
"So you're a lesbian then?"  
"No" Charity said through gritted teeth, "I'm bisexual, not that it's any of your business".   
Kim, obviously sensing tension, changed the subject and sided with Jamie over wanting to see photos of the kids.  
Charity thumbed through her phone quickly while she chewed on a bite of sandwich, making sure she didn't have any … incriminating photos of her or Vanessa on there from when business trips got too lonely.   
They both awed and cooed at every one and Kim began muttering about printing some off for above the fireplace.   
"How are your kids Carl?" Charity asked trying to connect with her brother as adults.  
Jamie had kept Carl up to date on Jackson and Micheal.   
Charity noticed the way Carl gripped his fork tighter. "They're fine. They live with their mum … in Spain".   
Jamie had not told her that.   
She felt something similar to pity for her brother.   
She couldn't imagine not seeing her kids or grandkids all the time.   
The longest she had been away from them was two weeks only a month after Oliver had been born and it was the worst two weeks of her life.   
Charity speaks  
"I'm sorry, that must be difficult".   
She saw the shock cross her brothers face.   
Surely he’d been expecting some sort of come back, something along the lines of "ha ha".   
Charity had the chance but she hadn't taken it because she didn't want to act like teenagers anymore.   
She had grown up in the years since she was last here, she’s a wife, a mother and a grandmother now and her family needed to realise that.  
***  
Charity had forgotten how hard farm life was.   
Her muscles were aching as drove the tractor around the corner to the front of the house.   
The day had gone as well as being stuck in a field with her father and Carl could have been expected.   
There had been a few times when Carl tried to instigate something but, in a shock twist that Charity never would have seen coming, Obadiah had come to her defence.  
Carl, ever the kiss ass, hadn't liked this too much.   
As she drove around the corner she saw two people and grinned.   
Noah with Johnny in hand making their way down the front drive.   
Johnny, in his little yellow wellies, saw charity driving the tractor and he gasped, excitement evident on his face.   
"Mummy chatty!"   
he cried running over to her the moment Charity climbed down.   
Charity grinned and pulled him up into her arms.  
"Is that yours?" Johnny asked.   
"No, I'm just borrowing it, are you ready to go see the sheep?"  
Johnny nodded and then looked over his shoulder,   
"who’s that?"  
Charity turned to see who he was looking at.   
Carl and Obadiah watched them.  
Charity speaks  
"You remember your grandad Obadiah don't you” Johnny nodded, "and that's Carl, my other brother, Can you wave to them?"   
Johnny waved and when Obadiah waved back he giggled and flung his face into Charity’s neck   
Carl headed inside while Obadiah made his way over to them.   
Years ago Obadiah could have done a full days work and then no doubt run a marathon but now he looked like he was struggling.   
"You and Debbie did good work today charity" Obadiah said with a nod.  
Something twisted in charity’s stomach.   
She had never been told this by her father and she hated how good it felt.   
"Thanks" Charity said trying to act like it didn't bother her as much as it did.   
Johnny piped up  
"Can we see sheep now Mummy chatty".   
"Yeah, yeah" Charity said, she bit at her lip and without thinking it through enough she turned to her dad and asked,  
"want to come with?"   
Obadiah seemed taken aback by the offer but he looked between his daughter and the grandson he never knew he had and he nodded.  
"I'd love to".   
Charity smiled and then cleared her throat.   
She turned to Noah,  
"you coming too?"  
Noah shook his head and pulled a face,  
"pft no thanks" he snorted, "I'm going inside where it's warm and free of animal poo".   
He grinned wickedly and pressed a kiss to his brothers cheek before skipping off inside.   
Johnny kicked his feet excitedly. "Lets go see sheep!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	6. Chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny sees the sheep

Johnnys giggles filled the little barn and Charity thought it was one of the best sounds in the world.   
She watched with extreme happiness as Johnny waddled around after the baby lambs.   
"He's braver then you ever were"   
Obadiah said from where he watched at the door, "you used to cry any time an animal went near you".   
“Johnny loves animals" charity told her father, "he wants a dog, so do Vanessa and Noah and I'm sure they'll get debbie and the kids on side when they're old enough to talk".   
"You're a good mother charity" Obadiah said quietly, so quiet that charity barely heard it.   
She thought back to before Johnny was born and all the fear and anxiety that had been inside of her.   
She had stayed up late into the night worrying.   
How was she supposed to be a good mother when she never had a good example of what a mother should be.   
And yet here she was, the man she had been so scared of acting like, saying she was a good mother.   
Before Charity could come up with a reply Obadiah cleared his throat, "I have to go help with dinner" he muttered and Charity was sure that was a lie.   
She had never seen Obadiah single touch a pot or pan in his life.   
Charity shook away the thoughts and feelings swimming around in her head and focused on johnny.   
***  
After gallivanting around with the baby sheep, Johnny had run along ahead and jumped into a muddy puddle covering himself head to toe.   
"Like Peppa Pig" Johnny said as charity stared at him.   
She had been planning on finding Noah and Debbie, saying goodbye and then heading straight home to her wife and her grandkids, but staring at Johnny, she sighed knowing she’d have to stick around a little longer to clean him off.   
Charity took her little boys hand and took him inside.   
She pushed open the front door and picked Johnny up as to not track mud all over Kim’s clean floor.   
She headed in the direction of the kitchen but paused before pushing open the door.   
She heard someone saying his name inside.   
Charity leaned in closer to hear what was being said.   
Through the glass panes of the kitchen door she saw Noah sat at the head of the table,Kim,Carl,Jamie and Obadiah sat around it.   
"Mum can be an arsehole" it was Noah who spoke, "but she’s our arsehole".   
She had been called an arsehole twice in that one statement but strangely it warmed her heart.  
Noah spoke   
"I know it's hard for her being back here and I don't know why but I just want you all to know that if you hurt her, intentionally or not, I'm going to hurt you".   
Was … was Noah threatening her family?   
Carl leaned forward, "listen kid"  
"Eh" Noah said and holding up one finger to effectively silence him. "I'm still talking Old Macdonald. Mum is fantastic, she saves me from cooking that would no doubt kill us all, she's the reason I survived my GCSE's and she's always looking out for me. This is me returning the favour and I won't hesitate to bring you all down if she or Vanessa get hurt".   
Unconditional love and fondness bloomed in charity’s chest at Noah defending her to her family.   
How far they'd come! As much as she was enjoying herself she thought she best step in before him defending her changes to actual threats that could and probably would get him arrested.   
she placed Johnny on the floor and pointed him towards the kitchen as to hide the fact that he'd been listening in.   
The door banging open gave everyone enough warning and nothing more was said when Charity walked inside.   
"You causing trouble?" Charity asked Noah.   
"Me?" Noah asked innocently enough, after being raised by charity and Vanessa for so long she'd inherited Vanessa’s cheekiness and charity’s sneakiness, a deadly combination. "Trouble? Never. I'm an angel".  
"Yeah and your brother Smiley McSmiley-face" Charity scoffed "I'm going to clean Johnny up and then we'll head home".   
"Are you cooking?" He asked her.   
"Nah" she said, "you can choose what take away we get".   
"I'm getting Thai just to piss Debbie off" he grinned.   
Charity groaned, "see this is why I don't let either of you pick the take away because it leads to world war bloody three".  
Noah rolled his eyes, "you're always so overdramatic mum" he said standing, "I'll clean Johnny up, you sit and take a chill pill".   
Charity didn't have a chance to argue as Noah picked Johnny up under his armpits and held Johnny out away from him as he navigated his way through the house towards the bathroom.   
Charity watched them go with a deep sigh before turning back to her family, all of whom were watching her eagle eyed.  
"What?" She asked suddenly self conscious.  
"I mean-" Jamie started, "you're so domestic".   
"I'm married and a mother of two and a grandmother of five who's also parenting a teenage boy" she told them, "of course I'm domestic?"  
"Well it's just- that's not you" Jamie said.   
Charity narrowed her eyes at them. "What's not me exactly? Being a good mum?"  
Carl huffed a heavy sigh, "he means you being with one person long enough to be domestic is weird. We all know your history Charity. We all know what your like".   
Anger bubbled inside charity. How dare they!  
"None of you know me" she seethed, "you knew a scared sixteen year old who hated herself. You don't know the person that I've become, the woman that I've become, probably because none of you have ever bothered to know me".   
And with that he called for Noah and Johnny and when they arrived, Noah looking confused and Johnny, thankfully, a lot cleaner, she slammed the door on the way out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	7. Chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day out with the kids

There was no sound sweeter or purer then a babies laugh.  
With two babies screeching playfully at once, Charity was in heaven.   
She leant down again towards the squirming babies sprawled on her and Vanessa’s bed in only their nappies, and she blew a loud and rippling raspberry on their stomachs.  
First Oliver and then holly.   
Again they cackled together, both of them looking from their silly grandma to their sibling, eyes alight with happiness.   
Finally Charity pulled them up to her lap and held them close, "never grow up" she mumbled into their hair, messy from play.  
"Stay grandmas little babies forever".   
Holly looked up to her and Charity couldn't help but smile.  
Barely a year old and yet she had her and Vanessa wrapped around her tiny finger. Neither of them had favourites, how could they when all of their kids and Debbie’s kids were so perfect in their own unique ways, and it wasn't as if they were raising Johnny any different to how they were raising his brother but still he was their little boy and their little Prince and they just couldn't say no to him or Oliver and holly. In charity’s case it didn't help that Johnny had inherited Vanessa’s blue eyes. Those blue eyes were her kryptonite.   
As she half laid, half sat propped up against the head board of the bed with Oliver and Holly in her lap-Oliver trying desperately to eat his own chubby foot and holly watching as if it was the most interesting thing in the world- charity’s mind drifted to her family only ten minutes down the road.  
The word family had taken on a new, heavier meaning for her since meeting Vanessa, since taking in Debbie and the kids, since they welcomed Johnny and then not too long after, Oliver and holly for debbie.  
She hated how much it hurt being back here, in the village.  
Hated how her family, if that's even what they still were to her, didn't know her and couldn't see the woman she’d worked so hard to become.  
She hated how it all bothered her so much.   
"I know I can't ask you not to grow up" Charity whispered to Oliver and holly, both still preoccupied in some way with Oliver’s foot, "I know it's going to happen eventually. Pft eventually, it already is happening, right infront of my eyes. But I want you both to know that I'm always going to be proud of you, I'm always going to love you. The love I have for you two and jack and Moses and Sarah is unconditional and unlimited. There's nothing I'm not going to do to keep you all happy. I promise you".   
She meant every word she said. Oliver and holly continued to look at their feet in bewilderment.   
"Is grouchy being soppy?" a voice asked from the bedroom door.   
Charity smiled as she walked over to lay besides them, pressing a kiss to the kids heads before getting comfortable.   
"Where's Johnny?” Charity asked, adjusting herself slightly to allow Vanessa to rest her head on Charity’s shoulder.   
Vanessa speaks  
"Downstairs watching cartoons with Moses and no doubt smearing jam all over himself and the couch and probably Moses. Don't worry Sarah and Noah are keeping an eye on them".   
Charity merely hummed in reply.  
Vanessa speaks  
"What are we doing today? You don't have to work do you?"  
Thankfully no. Life at the farm had been awkward the past few days. Obadiah’s anecdotes of a young charity and his content at watching Johnny play hadn't been the good omen Charity had been hoping for.  
Since Charity had lashed out at them the other day about how they didn't know him things had gone down hill.   
Kim had upped the enthusiasm where charity was concerned, constantly trying to fill her with food while asking an override of questions.  
Carl ignored her all together besides the snide jabs and attempts at withering glares.  
Jamie bombarded her with text messages, most of which saying sorry on their dad and brothers behalf.  
And Obadiah had closed off all over again.  
For a man who said he wanted to try to right some wrongs he wasn't doing a very good job.   
"No work" Charity confirmed, "actually, I was thinking we could go for a picnic. The eleven of us. We've been living here for a few weeks now but we've hardly seen anything besides the back garden. I want to show you around".   
Vanessa speaks  
"A tour of where the great charity dingle grew up with the promise of sarnies and sausage rolls afterwards. I'm in".   
"It's charity dingle-woodfield" charity corrected earning a soft smile from her wife, "and I really wasn't so great when I lived here".  
Vanessa scoffed, "don't lie charity, you've been great since the day you were born. It's why your ego is as big as it is".   
Charity speaks  
"You know I love you right".   
"How could I not when you tell me a hundred times a day" Vanessa smiled up at her.   
Charity sighed and rolled his eyes, "I try to be romantic-" she muttered playfully.   
Vanessa cut him off by leaning up for a kiss. "If we're going for a picnic we should probably get the kids dressed" she said nodding to Oliver and Holly. They'd progressed from one of them having a foot in their mouth to holly chomping down on Oliver’s foot and Oliver with his sisters foot in his slimy mouth.   
"I’ll do it, they behave for me" Charity said, she always opted for helping Debbie and Tracy to dress the kids, mainly because out of the three of them Charity had the better fashion sense- if she left it up to her daughter and future daughter in law, all three kids would be in matching hoodies and hightops or football kits.  
Charity speaks to Vanessa  
"You go see to Johnny and Moses’ jam fuelled distruction".   
"Fine by me" Vanessa said giving charity one more quick peck, "because going by the smell of it, those two need a nappy change".   
***  
"Not too fast!" Debbie yelled after Moses.  
He'd nagged for ages to be let on his tricycle without assistance on their walk.  
Eventually his parents couldn't take the yells of "BIKE! BIKE!" any longer and had caved and the little boy couldn't be happier.  
The one condition he hadn't been too thrilled about was the helmet and kneepads his worrying parents insisted he wore.  
Debbie now had multiple photos of Moses frowning at the camera while wearing a helmet with a sharks fin protruding from the top.   
"He's fine" Sarah said, the roll of her eyes could practically be heard in her voice. "Stop worrying".   
"I'm his mum” Debbie mumbled, "it's my job to worry".  
Tracy turned to speak to charity  
"So come on Charity, fill us in on all the hot history of this place".   
"Well" Charity said pointing to spots as she passed, "that's where I snogged, Leo Holmes in year nine, and that's where I snogged Leah Shelton in year twelve and that's where I made out with Cameron Duncan also in year twelve- ouch".   
"We don't need a list of every place you're snogged someone Charity" Vanessa said with a frown.   
Noah cackled, "jealous much".   
"I'm not jealous" vanessa said, raising her left hand with a smug smile, "I'm the one she put a ring on".   
Noah rolled his eyes on again.  
Sarah leant over the pram she was pushing, "you're auntie ness and grouchy are ridiculous" she told oliver and holly matter of factly.  
They merely grunted and babbled in reply.  
It was possible holly also pooed her nappy.   
"Well I don't know" Charity huffed, "this place hasn't changed at all since over the years but all I'm bringing up is bad memories".   
"Well that obviously needs to change" Noah butted in before Vanessa could say anything.  
A wicked grin crossed his face, "Race ya all to the park!" He yelled and then he and Sarah was off.   
Charity and Vanessa spared a moment to stare after them in confusion before running ahead, following Debbie and Tracy.  
***  
They stopped at the park where Johnny and Moses and jack went down the slide over a hundred times and then yelled, "Fast! Fast!" on the little round about until Charity felt sick from the motion.   
They plopped Oliver and holly in the swings and both Tracy and Debbie pushed a baby gently while Sarah recorded them, cackling at how both babies looked incredibly confused at the whole act.  
When Oliver began to wail they decided it was time to leave.   
Next up was the café. Charity really hadn't ventured further then the house or the farm since moving back and so she was nervous about going inside and facing whatever familiar faces she might run into.  
Vanessa’s reassuring squeeze and Noah and Sarah’s "dire" need for a chocolate milkshake won her over.  
It had been strange at first, the looks and the whispers and Charity was immediately thankful that their first family outing had taken them to the quiet café and not the village pub.   
Brenda, the owner, seemed shocked.  
She, of course, remembered her as a goby little shit, usually sporting a black eye or bloody lip after going after a girl that strictly wasn't free to go after.  
She'd thrown her out of the very same café numerous times before.   
"Charity dingle!" she'd gasped, "is that really you! I'd heard the rumours of course but- my word you look so much different".   
Charity put on a winning smile, pushing down her nerves.  
She ran a hand through her hair, "yeah well the short hair went out of style years ago Brenda".   
She hadn't been referring to his change in hairstyle and they both knew it but thankfully she let it drop. "  
And who are they?" she asked sweetly, hostess face on.   
"My family" she said simply before launching into proper introductions.  
On one hand it was a good thing Brenda was the first villager they'd run into.  
If she was anything like she used to be, word of charity’s family would be all over the village in no time at all meaning no more stares of surprise.   
"We're actually here for some milkshakes before hitting the cricket field" Charity prompted, hoping to move the conversation and their day along.   
Brenda blinked in shock once more at the unfamiliar, gossip worthy faces, before shaking herself out of it. "Right yes, of course. Coming right up".   
"Chocolate!" She called after her. She sighed deeply before turning to Vanessa, "welcome to small village life".   
***  
"Nope, nope do not look at me with those eyes Oliver shankley dingle" Charity squeezed her eyes shut against her grandson’s powerful stare.  
Unfortunately she couldn't cover her ears too and his whines and cries broke his heart.   
"Don't give in charity. I believe in you babe" she heard Vanessa laugh from besides her.  
With a frown Charity peeked her eyes open.   
They were all set up at the cricket pavilion with blankets and the picnic half eaten.  
Johnny and Moses were working off their milkshake induced sugar rush by playing football with Jack, Noah and Sarah although "football" was a loose term for what they were playing.  
In reality, Moses held the giant football close to his chest and ran away from Noah, jack, Johnny and Sarah.  
Oliver and holly were doing tummy time.   
Oliver loved it. He laid on his front facing the direction of Moses and watched his older brother run around quite contently.  
Charity wasn't wishing away time but she was looking forward to when Oliver could join in on the action too.  
The only thing they had to watch out for was him pulling up strands of grass and trying to eat them.   
With holly it was a completely different story.Holly and tummy time was an unpredictable thing. Sometimes she loved it, sometimes she hated it. Today she was full of hate. As soon as Debbie laid her down on her belly she'd scrunched up her face in disgust and began to whine. She reached out for charity but Debbie had pulled her away.   
Charity speaks  
"But look at her little face debs".   
"That little face is playing you like a fiddle" Debbie said, "don't fall for it".   
Charity speaks  
"I know but she's so cute".  
Somehow she made it through without breaking and Vanessa rewarded her resistance with a kiss and then hand feeding her a sausage roll.   
It was a simple day but it was the best she’d had in a long time.   
She crawled into bed that night happy, Vanessa’s snores and the babies gurgles coming from the room nearest to them filling the room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are ill

Was she dead? She felt like death had taken her and dragged her down to Hell. Surely she was in hell.   
The kids were ill, all of them apart from Noah and Sarah, their fevers having spiked in the middle of the night.   
And as if that wasn't bad enough, Vanessa, Debbie and Tracy were in Ireland for the weekend visiting family.   
Charity was all alone and with five kids and two teenagers, who spent their days screaming as much as their little lungs would allow.   
"Soopa. Soopa!" Moses was whining over and over from his spot on the couch where charity had got him bundled in every blanket they had in the house. "SOOPA!"  
"Just a minute mozza" Charity called from the kitchen where she was simultaneously stirring her grandsons chicken soup and rocking Oliver, trying to lull him back into sleep now she’d given him the antibiotics.   
"SOOPA!" Moses wailed again before breaking out into a fit of coughs which, in turn, disturbed holly from where she was sleeping in the travel crib.   
And then, as if she wasn't already up to his neck in it, the doorbell rang.   
With a groan Charity poured half of the soup into Moses bowl leaving it on the side to cool as she rushed over to the door.   
If this was some sort of sales person Charity felt sorry for the menacing sight they were about to see.   
She was taken aback to find it was not some unsuspecting salesman standing on the other side, but her father.   
When he caught sight of the familiar frown and tatty green jacket, Charity did something she never thought possible when faced with her father.   
She let out a heavy sigh of relief and said: "thank god".   
Without a second word she passed over Oliver and rushed over to holly, leaving Obadiah standing bewildered at the door with a squirming Oliver in his arms.   
"Bit of a mad house today isn't it?" Obadiah mumbled stepping inside and kicking the door closed behind him.   
Charity sent him a look that said, "you think" as she held holly to her chest and rubbed her back soothingly.   
"SOOPA!" Moses And Johnny wailed.   
"I know boys it's coming" Charity said, the stress evident in her voice, "its just a bit too hot yet"  
"Burny?" Johnny sniffed.   
"Yeah darling" Charity nodded as she jigged up and down with her granddaughter, "burny".   
Obadiah followed Charity into the kitchen. "They're all sick?"   
Charity fought down the urge to say something along the lines of "no shit Sherlock". Instead she nodded, blowing on johnnys bowl of soup, hoping to cool it quicker, and said, "and Vanessa, Tracy and Debbie have gone to Ireland for the weekend. I'm tearing my hair out here".   
"I-" Obadiah started, "I could stay and help".   
Charity paused her frantic soup blowing and baby back rubbing to stare at her father. Had the night of no sleep and screams effected her to the point of hallucinations?   
"Erm-" she started but Obadiah was already getting full into granddad mode; shushing Oliver soothingly as he picked up Moses and johnnys now ready to eat soup and disappeared into the living room.   
***  
"Hey, how are you holding up?" Vanessa’s voice asked through the phone "How are the babies? I've had a look and there's a train back tonight-"  
"No, no"charity shook his head, "don't rush back, enjoy your time with Tracy and Debbie and everyone, I've got everything handled here. Actually, my dad's here" she said "helping".  
Charity could practically hear her wife’s eyebrow raise through the phone. "Helping? Your dad? Really?"  
"Yeah, I'm as surprised as you" Charity mumbled looking around to make sure her dad wasn't lurking nearby.   
Charity had taken a much needed break now the kids were fed, dosed up with their medicine and happy; the babies napping peacefully, holding hands sweetly as they slept and Moses and Johnny sucking on a comforter as they watched The Secrete Life of Pets.   
"Well" Vanessa said, "good luck".   
Charity snorted, "really. Good luck? That's all you've got".   
"That's all I've got" Vanessa confirmed.  
"Mummy chatty” Charity heard Johnny call.   
"Right" she sighed, "I'm being summoned" she joked, "we'll speak tonight? If your family don't get you totally plastered that is".   
Vanessa speaks  
"I'm not going to get drunk Charity".  
Charity speaks  
"You should. One of us may as well have some fun".   
Vanessa laughed again, "I love you".   
Charity speaks   
"I love you too".   
***  
"Thanks for today" Charity said, stepping out of Moses and Johnny’s room after just having tucked the little boys in. "You saved me from losing the plot"   
"My pleasure" Obadiah nodded, gruff as ever as he followed Charity down the stairs. "It was fun".  
Charity speaks  
"Fun? Taking care of three sick, screaming kids with snot running out their noses was fun for you"  
"Spending time with them was fun" Obadiah amended and Charity couldn't help the smile that spread across her face and the warmth that bloomed in her chest.   
"Well I owe you one" Charity said, "how about dinner, all of us? Next Sunday when Vanessa, Debbie and Tracy are back and the kids are better. Hopefully".   
"I'll talk to Kim" Obadiah said, "but I'd like that". 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obadiah is rushed to hospital

"Johnny you're getting it everywhere!" Charity cried aiming for authorative and motherly but failing terribly and laughing, instead, at the mess her son had made. Today was the day of the dreaded Sunday dinner with Obadiah and Kim, something charity had been stressing about ever since she mentioned it.  
She considered texting and saying the kids fever had spiked even though they'd been fine for days but Debbie and Vanessa had told her no.   
"Chocolate" Johnny and moses said pointing to the chocolate covered spoon.   
"Fine" Charity agreed picking her son up then her grandson up from the stool they stood on so they could reach to mix. "You can both lick the spoon but don't tell your mum Johnny and don’t tell tracy Moses”  
"Don't tell us what?" Tracy and Vanessa asked, appearing out of nowhere, both holding a baby  
Johnny stared wide eyed between his mums, the wooden spoon held tightly in both hands. "Nothing" Johnny said with a giant cheeky grin before ducking around Vanessa and running off out of the room, Moses following Johnny.  
"Just like his mother" both Charity and Vanessa mumbled before shooting a look at the other.   
"How's dinner coming along?" Vanessa asked, moving to give charity a quick peck on the cheek.  
Vanessa and Tracy had kept out of the way of the kitchen all morning taking the responsibility of keeping the kids entertained, only coming in for fruit snacks for the kids.   
Charity speaks  
"Dare I say it's the nicest curry me and debs have ever made and the prawns and naan bread's are good to go when we're all ready".   
"And the brownies?" Vanessa asked peaking into the bowl. Charity knew if she didn't have her hands full with babies Tracy would have already stuck her finger in there.   
"Always thinking with your belly" Debbie said reaching out to poke tracy.   
***  
Knock. Knock. Knock.   
"Shit!" Charity cried from the kitcen.   
"Charity!" Vanessa cried from the living room.   
"SHIT!" Johnny, Moses and jack cried from the floor where they was playing with the toy cars, breaking out into giggles.   
Charity and Debbie had no time to scold their kids or explain why they definitely should not say that word but they didn't have time.  
Charity and Debbie were sure that giving them a free pass wouldn't screw them up too bad.   
Charity threw the tea towel over her shoulder and rushed to the front door.  
Charity pulled it open to see her dad and step-mum standing there, bottle of wine in hand.   
Nerves made her stomach twist with dread but she put on her best smile and stepped aside, "come on in".   
***  
"So where are Noah and Sarah this evening?" Kim asked as charity took her plate and dished out her serving of curry.   
"There's some party" charity said, "considering we've not been here all that long, they’ve made friends pretty fast".  
"they probably just went to get away from us to be honest" Debbie said.   
"And the free booze" Vanessa added.   
"You let her go knowing there'd be booze?" Kim asked.   
Charity shrugged. "We've taught them to be responsible" she said dipping her bread in the curry, "we trust them. Besides, with the things I did as a kid, bit hypocritical to tell her no".   
Kim didn't seem to agree with her parenting choices but, thankfully, didn't bring anything up.  
The conversation soon lapsed into boring, every day things: work, the kids, the farm. Charity couldn't help but notice how Obadiah didn't talk much.   
Charity speaks  
"Dad, how's your food?"   
Obadiah looked up from the food that he'd only really pushed around.  
His face was pale, hollower then usual. He was really looking his age and really looking ill. Suddenly Charity understood. Her stomach dropped.   
"Its gotten worse hasn't it?" Charity asked quietly, "the cancer".   
Obadiah bowed his head in answer.   
"He's keeping up with his chemo though" Kim interjected although the fear in her voice was evident.  
Charity couldn't imagine what she was going through.  
She may not hold the most love for her father but it was clear Kim did and she couldn't imagine watching debbie or vanessa growing sicker and sicker by the day.   
***  
"He's dying" Charity said as if only just realising it.  
She was stood in the doorway with Vanessa watching Obadiah, who was sat on the floor with all of his grandkids and great grandkids helping them build with the giant play blocks.  
"I knew he was dying when we came here but …"  
"It's only just sinking in now" Charity sighed.   
Vanessa speaks  
"How are you feeling?"  
She didn't know. Before, every time she thought of her father she thought of the fear and the shame she lived with for most of her childhood and she knew she’d still have those memories, they caused her too much pain to be pushed aside so easily.  
But now those bad times were peppered with good.  
She now pictured her father as the grandad and great granddad he always wanted her kids and Debbie’s kids to have.   
The kind who took Johnny to play with lambs, the type of grandad to help watch them while they were sick and Charity was close to loosing the plot.   
"I'm glad they get this" charity said, nodding towards her dad and her kids and grandkids, a collision of worlds she never thought possible.   
***  
Charity was shaken awake. "Charity. Charity. Babe" Vanessa said.   
"Ugh" Charity groaned, flipping over, "what's wrong?"   
"It's your dad" she said, "something's happened. He's been rushed into hospital". 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed


	10. Chapter ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obadiah dies

Charity hated hospitals. The burning lights. The hushed whispers between doctors who know something you don't. The smell unique only to hospitals. The fact that her dad was currently laying in a bed, hooked up to monitors and there was nothing she could do.   
"What happened?" Charity asked when she finally found her family.   
Kim and Jamie were both half dressed for bed.   
Jamie in an oversized sweatshirt, tracksuit bottoms and Trainers and Kim in jogging bottoms, her hair scraped back, eyes puffy from the tears.   
"Charity" Jamie cried, rushing over to her. Her wrapped his arms around her and charity held him tight.   
"I woke up and he was just-" Kim couldn't finish what she was saying before breaking out into sobs again.  
Charity ran a hand up and down her younger brother’s back.   
She didn't know what to do. She should know what to do. How was she supposed to fix this? How was she supposed to make this better?  
"Excuse me" she called out to the first doctor looking person she saw. "I'm here for Obadiah dingle. I'm his daughter. Is there any news?"  
"Mr dingle is currently very weak, we're pumping him with fluids and we're doing everything we can but..."  
"But?" Charity prompted something tightening in her chest. She knew the answer.   
The doctors face turned sympathetic, apologetic, "I'm sorry" she said, "It may be time to start saying your goodbyes".   
Charity felt something break inside her and she bit her tongue to fight back tears.   
Charity had waited for this moment for years.   
The day her father would finally croak.   
She thought about it so much as a kid, the day she would finally be out from underneath's her fathers thumb.   
And now that time had come and Charity felt sick to her stomach with grief and sadness.  
Charity took a deep breath to steady herself, trying to work out how she would break the news to Jamie and Kim.   
Before she had the chance to even open her mouth, Carl barged through double doors down the corridor. "Where's dad? What's happened?"  
"Carl-" Charity started.   
Carl speaks to charity  
"Is he awake?"  
"Carl-"   
Carl speaks again  
"I want to talk to the doctors".   
"Carl!" Charity yelled, "stop. I've already talked to the doctors". All three faces turned to her. Her hand shook as she balled it into a fist and said, "it's happening. It's time to say goodbye. He's dying".  
A fist smashed into charity’s face, she heard a crack and she went flying down. "What the fu-" she started but suddenly strong hands were hauling her up and smashing her against the wall.  
"Carl!" Jamie screamed in outrage.   
Charity wasn't about to be her brothers punching bag. She brought her knee up and it connected with her brothers ribs, finally pushing her brother back.   
"What the hell Carl" Charity swore, bringing her hand to her bleeding nose and cut lip.   
Carl shouts at charity  
"Everything got worse when you showed up. Dad was fine, his chemo was working and he was fine, now look at him!"  
"Carl stop" Jamie sobbed, "this isn't charity’s fault. Dad was dying long before charity got here".  
"Why is she here Jamie?" Carl asked, "we don't see her for years and suddenly she shows up the minute she hears that dad is going down hill? She says she’s here to help but since when does charity help? She takes and she takes. She’s no doubt only here for whatever inheritance she think she's got coming her way".   
"Why would I want to come back?" Charity asked, "I was never welcome here! You all treated me like a piece of shit. I was the problem, the disappointment, the one you were all lumbered here. Why would I want to come back to a dad who be-" Charity cut herself off.   
Now wasn't the time. It would never be the time. Charity had seen a different side of her father then the rest of her family had. She’d had the bruises for weeks as a reminder. But her family didn't need to know that. Not on his death bed.   
"Excuse me" a nurse with a stern expression showed up at their side, "are you done? Because your father is asking for you. No doubt your yelling pulled him out of his drug induced state".   
***  
"Why are you both bleeding?" Obadiah croaked out when the Dingles walked through to his hospital room. Charity had a sudden flashback of being a kid again.   
"Carl attacked Charity" Jamie said ever the tattle tale. They were all grown adults and yet nothing had changed.   
Obadiah turned his attention to Carl, disappointment usually reserved for charity in his eyes.   
"I don't get why she's here dad. Why now. She hasn't bothered with us before has she? She wants your money. She’ll try and take everything out from under us, the house, the farm. Everything".   
"Carl stop" Obadiah said forcefully, sending him into a fit of choking coughs. "It's my fault. I'm the reason you're sister left and didn't come back".   
"What are you talking about Obadiah?" Kim piped up.   
Charity shook her head, "dad don't" she said quietly, "they don't need to know this".   
"They do. They need to know what I did and you need to know how sorry I am and I don't have much time".  
Charity didn't know what to think. Anxiety and dread ran through her. Her family had spent years hating her, blaming her, thinking she had wanted to leave and never come back. She herself had gone years thinking it was her fault too and yet here was her dad about to tell them everything, even after Charity had told her she'd put it behind her.  
"When- when Charity was fifteen, maybe sixteen, I walked in on her in her room … with a girl" Obadiah said, "they were on the bed and they were kissing and … and I yelled, sent the girl running out the door and then I … I beat Charity and I sent her to live with your grandma in Spain for the rest of summer".   
"Oh Obadiah" Kim whispered, "how could you?"  
"Charity? Charity?" Jamie said, "tell me this isn't true. He didn't. He couldn't"  
Charity didn't say anything. She couldn't look at any of them. "Why tell them?" She asked, "they never had to know any of this".   
Jack spoke calmly to charity  
"I'm not proud of what I did. What I did to you Charity I've regretted it ever since. They needed to know the truth".   
***  
"Coffee?" Charity held out a Styrofoam cup to her brother. He ran off not soon after Obadiah had … confessed.   
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jamie sniffed. He had been crying again.   
Charity heaved a heavy sigh and slid down the wall to sit beside him. "You were a kid Jamie, what was I supposed to say?"  
Jamie spoke  
"No wonder you left as soon as you could. I'm so sorry you had to go through that Charity".   
Charity spoke   
"It's fine. It's in the past"  
Jamie spoke  
"How can you forgive him so easily?"  
Charity spoke  
"I- I haven't forgiven him Jamie. He messed me up in ways he doesn't even realise and that will never be okay but … he's not the same man now as he was then. Every time I look at him now I see him playing Legos with Johnny or bouncing Oliver and holly on his knee, or talking to debbie and I feel happy that they got this time with him. That I got this time with him".   
Jamie leant his head against Charity’s shoulder. "I love you Charity".   
Charity spoke  
"I love you too Jamie. And I promise I'll start coming around more. We can do the whole family barbeques and days out. All of it".   
Jamie asks  
"Making up for lost time?"   
Charity answers  
"Yeah. Exactly".   
***  
Vanessa was there when it happened. She held charity’s hand tight as the dingles gathered around Obadiah’s bed. Obadiah lane prone, eyes closed in sleep, his breathing shallow and the beeping on the heart monitor slow.   
It was strange, the feeling of grief and loss that worked it's way into charity’s heart. She didn't want to be here. She just wanted to go home and hold her family close.   
She held onto Vanessa, never letting her go as Obadiah took his last breath and the monitor beeped one last time before falling silent.   
Jamie let out a sob.   
Obadiah dingle was dead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all say goodbye to obadiah

It was like a procession to the church. So many people dressed in black making their way down to the little village church to pay their last respects to Obadiah dingle.   
Charity pushed the pram down the hill as Johnny and Moses toddled between them, Debbie, Ryan, Tracy, Sarah and Noah following behind. The children, unlike everyone else, were not dressed in black. Charity couldn't stomach it.   
"Party?" Johnny asked, pointing to the people walking inside the church.   
Charity picked him up and settled Johnny on her hip, "no Johnny. We're saying goodbye".   
Johnny spoke  
"Say bye-bye? Why?"  
Charity speaks  
"Because, grandad Obadiah died Johnny. He was really sick, and he went to sleep for a long time".  
The service was nice. Traditional and very Obadiah. Kim stood up and said a speech, a love letter to the life they had together.   
The villagers, the people who had known charity for most of her childhood, shook their hands and paid their condolences as they left, everyone heading over to the local pub for the wake, and then it was just the fourteen of them. The dingles and the woodfields, Noah close by their side. Charity’s two lives combined.  
Jamie didn't cry as he laid his hand to rest against the wood of their dads casket. He cried so much these last few days Charity didn't think that Jamie had anything left in him.  
Debbie and Ryan said goodbye, so did Noah and Sarah, Sarah picked jack up and he said goodbye, Noah picked Moses up and he said goodbye, Debbie and Tracy each got a baby and got them to lay their hand on the casket, Debbie and Tracy said goodbye together, hand in hand.  
Charity held Vanessa’s hand as they passed by, just as she held her hand in Obadiah’s final moments.   
Johnny frowned down at the casket. "Night night grandad Obadiah"   
Three weeks later.   
"Are you sure you have to leave?" Kim asked. "You can't stay around any longer?"   
Their time in the village was over. They'd stayed and helped through the worst of. Helping Kim get Obadiah’s affairs in order, helping with the farm but as they grieved life continued. Charity and Vanessa and Debbie and Tracy all had jobs they needed to get back to and school had already started back up for Sarah and Noah and jack a week ago.   
"I'm sorry" she said.   
Kim batted her away, "wishful thinking on my part, I've just gotten so used to my daily dose of adorable babies".   
"You can come up and see us whenever you want" Charity told her "we've got a spare room. We'd love to have you".  
"I'll be taking you up on that offer" she said, "just as soon as everything's settled".   
Charity nodded "course".   
Kim’s face crumpled and she pulled charity towards her for a hug. "Gosh. I'm really going to miss you charity"   
"Hey" jamie said, skipping towards them, something in his hands which he held out to charity. "I made you guys some sandwiches" he said, "and there's a bunch of sweets in their for the boys and Noah and Sarah. Don't look at me like that, I have a lot of fun uncle time to make up for".   
"Right" vanessa said leaving the house with the two babies strapped in and sleeping in their car seats. "Babies are asleep, if we want to be on the road before they start screaming we best be off".   
After strapping all the kids in both cars and yelling at Noah and Sarah to hurry up they turned to Kim and Jamie.   
"Aww it was lovely meeting you Vanessa" Kim said, squeezing her tight.   
"Yeah cats out of the bag now, Charity can't hide you away any more" jamie said. "I'm gonna be up to see you guys whenever I can".   
"Ugh now I'm regretting all my life choices" charity said. "Seriously, we really have to go if we don't want to be stuck in traffic. I love you both and I promise I'll ring this weekend".   
"You better" Jamie yelled as they climbed into the car.   
When charity had driven into this village all those weeks ago it was with terror and nerves at what would happen.  
Now as they made their way through the village, past the farm where she'd worked at and taken Johnny to see the sheep, past the park where her and Vanessa and Debbie and Ryan and Tracy had taken the kids on the swings, past the church where she had buried her father, she felt a sense of sadness. It was almost as if she was going to miss this place.   
They'd be back. At some point. She knew that much. They had their life away from this village, a life charity was proud to have built with Vanessa and she wouldn't change that for the world.   
And yet she was proud of this village now too, this was were she was made, these were her roots, deep down this may be forever her home.   
The End. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed


End file.
